Relay device and multi-split air-conditioning control systems

Abstract

A relay device and a multi-split control system that achieve reliable communication between an outdoor air conditioning unit and multiple indoor units under the condition that the length of a communication bus is limited. The system expands the communication distance by a cascade path formed by a plurality of relay devices. The cascade path transmits control signals sent by a master control device/a specific slave control device (i.e. a slave control device communicating with the master control device or certain relay device) to corresponding slave control devices one by one, and the corresponding slave control devices transmit the signals to the master control device/specific slave control device according to a response signal fed back by the control signal, where the relay devices may respectively communicate with a source node device and a destination node device on the basis of the master-slave type communication mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A relay device, comprising:
 a communication module configured to communicate with a preset source node device and preset destination node devices, respectively, based on a master-slave communication mode, wherein the communication module comprises:
 a first communication unit configured to receive a first control signal sent by the source node device through the master-slave communication mode where the relay device serves as a slave device of the source node device, and send to the source node device a first response signal fed back from the destination node device corresponding to the first control signal; and 
 a second communication unit configured to send the first control signal to the destination node device corresponding to the first control signal through the master-slave communication mode where the relay device serves as a master device of the destination node device, and receive the first response signal fed back from the destination node device according to the first control signal, wherein the relay device is able to simulate a competitive signal transmission process of the destination node device competing to send the first response signal. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The relay device according to  claim 1 , wherein: the communication module is further configured to communicate with a specific destination node device; wherein the specific destination node device is a destination node device communicatively connected with the source node device directly;
 in this case, the first communication unit is further configured to receive a second control signal sent by the specific destination node device, and send a second response signal fed back from the destination node device corresponding to the second control signal to the specific destination node device; and 
 the second communication unit is further configured to send the second control signal to the destination node device corresponding to the second control signal, and receive the second response signal fed back from the destination node device according to the second control signal. 
 
     
     
       3. The relay device according to  claim 2 , wherein the first communication unit is further configured to, based on a competitive signal transmission method, send the first response signal fed back from the destination node device to the source node device or send the second response signal fed back from the destination node device to the specific destination node device. 
     
     
       4. The relay device according to  claim 3 , wherein the competitive signal transmission method comprises:
 simultaneously sending all target response signals to a target node device in a preset competition time slot; 
 detecting data transmitted in a channel in real time, and judging whether currently transmitted data of each of the target response signals is the same as the detected data; and 
 stopping sending the target response signal and resending the target response signal in the next competition time slot, responsive to determining that the currently transmitted data of a certain target response signal is different from the detected data; wherein when the target node device is the source node device, the target response signal is the first response signal; and when the target node device is the specific destination node device, the target response signal is the second response signal. 
 
     
     
       5. The relay device according to  claim 2 , wherein the relay device further comprises
 a verification module which is configured to verify whether the first control signal, the second control signal, the first response signal or the second response signal are correct; 
 in this case, the first communication unit is further configured to send the first response signal to the source node device after it is verified to be correct or send the second response signal to the specific destination node device after it is verified to be correct; and 
 the second communication unit is further configured to send the first control signal or the second control signal to the corresponding destination node device after the first control signal or the second control signal is verified to be correct. 
 
     
     
       6. The relay device according to  claim 2 , wherein the relay device further comprises
 a buffer module configured to buffer the first response signal and the second response signal received by the second communication unit. 
 
     
     
       7. A multi-connection control system, comprising:
 a master control device, 
 a relay device, and 
 a plurality of slave control devices; wherein the relay device comprises
 a first communication unit and 
 a second communication unit; wherein the master control device is communicatively connected with part of the slave control devices and with the first communication unit; and the second communication unit is communicatively connected with the other part of the slave control devices; wherein the first communication unit is configured to receive a first control signal sent by the master control device through the master-slave communication mode where the relay device serves as a slave device of the source node device, and send a first response signal fed back from the slave control device corresponding to the first control signal to the master control device; and wherein the second communication unit is configured to send the first control signal to the slave control device corresponding to the first control signal through the master-slave communication mode where the relay device serves as a master device of the destination node device, and receive the first response signal fed back from the corresponding slave control device according to the first control signal; and wherein the relay device is able to simulate a competitive signal transmission process of the slave control devices competing to send the first response signal. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The multi-connection control system according to  claim 7 , wherein: the relay device is provided in plural, and the plurality of relay devices are cascaded to form a cascade path; the first relay device in the cascade path is communicatively connected with the master control device directly, and each of the relay devices is communicatively connected with part of the slave control devices; and the cascade path is configured to transmit the first control signal sent by the master control device or a second control signal sent by a specific slave control device to a corresponding slave control device step by step, and transmit the first response signal fed back from the corresponding slave control device according to the first control signal to the master control device step by step or transmit a second response signal fed back from the corresponding slave control device according to the second control signal to the specific slave control device step by step; wherein the specific slave control device is a slave control device communicatively connected with the master control device or a certain relay device directly. 
     
     
       9. The multi-connection control system according to  claim 8 , wherein the specific slave control device is configured to compete to send the first response signal to the master control device or compete to send the second response signal to the corresponding relay device.